Together as One
by BlueNBlackNeko
Summary: Rin has died and Obito has killed the kirigakure nin in the name of vengeance. The darkness is slowly consuming Obito, and depression has gotten hold of Kakashi. But maybe together, it will all be okay. Yaoi. Eventual ObiKaka. kind of based off of the other story I wrote earlier: Despair of Warfare. The rating might change for safety measures...I'm not sure yet. So yeah, enjoy.
1. Chapter 1

Together as One ObiKaka

Chapter one-Rin

Obito was far ahead of Kakashi as he practically slammed through the trees.

"Obito slow down! You'll give away our position!"

Obito wasn't listening. The old Kakashi would have rolled his eyes, but now he chanelled more chakra to his feet to keep up with the raging Uchiha. And then they stopped. The iwigakure ninja seemed to be alerted to their presence and Rin was in their clutches. Kakashi watched as his friend's hands clenched tight enough for his nails to draw his own blood. He shook and he looked terrifying. A year ago, Kakashi would never have guessed the Uchiha could hold so much anger. He put a hand on the Uchiha's shoulder as they watched. She moved slowly as though not entirely in control of her body.

"It looks like a puppet master jutsu," Kakashi said to Obito. Obito only nodded

"Alright, we go in with smoke bombs, you get Rin out of there and I'll use my chidori to eliminate as many of them as possible and catch up to you."

"What? I can hold them off just as well as you…"

"Rin needs you Obito, you can protect her," Kakashi was surprised at how well he could talk Obito into following his plans these days. Before he would have just continued yelling at him to listen to him. Obito now looked proud to be entreated with Kakashi's trust and what Kakashi made him believe was the more important job of the two. They got their smoke bombs ready and swooped down from the trees, Obito grabbed Rin and hoisted her onto his back running back towards Konoha as fast as he could. Kakashi pulled out his father's blade which he'd had fixed a few months after the end of the war. He took down as many as he could and ran back after his two comrades, now thye had to be careful, because no doubt the kiri ninja would bring reinforcements to get their kidnapped victim back. He was quicker than Obito who was carrying Rin and had caught up quickly.

Obito was chanelling all his chakra into his feet, pushing forward and trying to go faster. Rin looked displeased and spoke into Obito's ear, "Stop."

He didn't listen, his brain kept telling him to keep running.

"Obito…please… stop."

Her voice was louder this time and he was completely at full brake when he heard her speak .Kakashi stopped too when he realized the Uchiha wans't running any more. Obito put her down momentarily thinking that she needed water. Kakashi came forward, "What's wrong?"

"She asked me to stop," Obito said.

"Wait," the girl began to cry pushing the bottle of water Obito was offering her away.

"This could be a tactic the enemy is using to get her back Obito, we can't stop."

But it was too late, someone from the trees surrounding them spoke, "Give us back the girl, and we won't kill you."

"We'll kill you if you lay another hand on her!" Obito yelled back. The ninja in the trees didn't wait for another answer, they lept out and attacked the two boys who quickly pulled out their own kunai to counter the attacks. Both surrounded Rin, ready to protect their comrade against anything. Twenty more kiri nin, most of them ANBU, came out of the trees, "You are surrounded, giver her to us now and we may still consider sparring your lives."

Both boy's glared in response, Obito heard the tell tale signs of Kakashi activating his new jutsu- chiddori. And the silver haired boy ran toward the nearest one and then to Obito's horror, Rin was not behind him anymore. She was running straight for Kakashi's lightning blade. And Kakashi couldn't stop. In seconds Kakashi's arm was covered in her blood and Obito barely caught her as she fell back. She was dead in moments. Kakashi was horrified at what he'd done, and collapsed in front of her onto his knees. But Obito felt bloodlust run through him. His rage intensified tenfold and he stood up carefully giving her body to Kakashi who held her.

Obito's sharingan began to change into a triangular form, into kamui. Kakashi could feel it changing and clutched his eye feeling pain run through it. This had happened before, but it was never as strong as this. He could feel the world drifting into darkness and a few moments later passed out over Rin's body.

Obito didn't pay any attention to them and as soon as he heard the words of the first ANBU speak he took out a shuriken and ran toward the man. The ANBU easily countered it, but as he lunged for the boy, Obito unexpectedly disappeared into the tree. He emerged from the other side to kill an ANBU sitting there. And in finding this new power, he began using it more, he dove through trees, avoiding enemy attacks but able to kill them easily.

"Retreat!" The head of the Kiri nin yelled.

"Where are you going!? I haven't even started yet!" Obito said the power running through his veins. In a matter of five minutes, not one of the Kirigakure nin were standing, the forest around the clearing was bloody and Obito was covered in it. He willed the Kamui away and trudged through the red grass to where his friends lay. He pulled Rin's lifeless body from Kakashi's arms and held her. She'd stopped bleeding finally. He wiped one of his hands on his clothes and ran his fingers over her lifeless lips, "Rin…Rin, why did you have to die?" Slowly, trembling in sorry he began to sob. Kakashi woke up during that time, rubbing his eye. He watched as Obito cried for the girl he loved and in the end kissed her lifeless lips carefully.

"I'm sorry, Obito," Kakashi said looking away. But when he looked away he was stung with the horror of the mess around the clearing. There were twenty corpses lying in various positions, blood dripped from some of the tree limbs and the ground soaked it up.

"O-obito…you-you didn't do this, did you?" Kakashi asked looking over at his friend. At first he thought the blood was from Rin, but now he was sure, that the blood all over his friend's clothes was not hers.

"I did," Obito said slowly in between sobs, "I-I killed them all. I hate them…for what they did to her. What they made her do!" He sobbed anew. And a twinge of pity formed in the pity of Kakashi's stomach. Rin had loved him, no Obito, but he didn't dare tell Obito because he had really taken no interest in Rin. But he would regard Rin as one of his closest friends. But his hand had killed her- would Obito blame him? Obito looked up to his friend, noticing that for the first time, Kakashi was crying too. His heart eased a little at the sight-that the one person who'd made fun of him for it, was now crying with him.

Nearby both were alerted to a presence, and leaves moving slightly at the other edge of the clearing. Obito grabbed a new kunai, but the person in the bushes didn't make themselves present and Kakashi had seen all the bloodshed he could handle. He took Obito's arm, "Quick, let's go back to the village."

Obito nodded and picked her up and the two quickly leapt into the trees when they judged that they were far enough away, they found the main trail and went on foot. Obito noticed vaguely that Kakashi no longer held his head high, he slouched and his head faced the ground. He looked at the lifeless body again and the tears began to fall again. How would he live without Rin, he wondered quietly.


	2. Chapter 2

Hello, here is chapter 2! I hope you enjoy! and I don't own Naruto.

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A storm was rolling in just as the two boys got home. But it almost seemed as though the two boys were bringing the storm in with them. A trail of blood followed them, and both were covered. Normally people would have thought this was normal, but rarely were ninja so depressed that they just strolled in. Both boys walked slowly into the village and as they did, it began to rain. They both stopped momentarily looking up at the sky as the water hit their faces. Then without further regard to it, they kept on walking. People would turn and look to see the two boy's, many were shocked. Ninja weren't supposed to be so forthcoming about those dead within their ranks, but Obito wanted everyone to see. And Kakashi did as well. They stopped short at the academy and didn't openly debate whether to go inside or not, but it seemed like a mutual decision had occurred when the two of them walked in. After all they'd gone through the whole village, why not continue and go all the way to the Hokage's front desk. Ninja from all over the academy stared ghastly at them.

"What do you think you kids are doing, go put that trash…" One look from Obito and the chunin academy teacher was silent. Obito wasn't going to hear that Rin was trash. The two of them both turned and kept walking and slowly made it all the way up the steps until they reached the top where Kakashi opened the door and Obito walked in after him.

Hiruzen looked up surprised when he saw the two boys carrying in the bloody corpse. It seemed as though he'd been in the middle of a meeting. But Obito plowed right through it to his desk, "Lord Hokage sir, permission for a…mem-morial service…for Rin…_slurp…_Nohara…" he broke down crying. Obito was beyond caring whether it was below him or not.

Danzo began whimpering about the blood stains all over the floor that Obito and Kakashi had dragged in, but neither cared.

"We will, I promise Obito, first though we have to do an autopsy. Can you take her down there?"

Obito held her body close to him and tightly. Even the idea of her body being used for studies repulsed him. Kakashi turned to his friend, "Obito, I'll stay here and," he drew in a sharp breath, "Report. Please, it might help us…understand why they did it."

That got Obito's attention. He turned slowly nodding to his friend and carefully hauling the body back out all the way to the morgue. Hiruzen asked the three elders to leave. And called Minato to his office. As Kakashi had expected Minato had long heard of what had happened. He'd even witnessed Uchiha dragging the body around like a child so attached to his beloved doll that he wouldn't let go for anything.

Kakashi trembled a little before beginning. As he came to Rin's death he had to stop calming the tears that threatened to come up. He looked down at this hand in horror for a moment and looked back up continuing on with the report. Near the end, both Minato and Hiruzen were surprised to learn that Obito had slaughtered all of the Kirigakure ANBU.

"How?"

"It was his kamui. It activated when he was shocked and enraged by her death. I didn't actually see him in action, but I passed out last time it activated and my eye hutrt both times when he was done."

"Alright Kakashi, go home and rest, we'll talk to Obito separately."

Kakashi nodded. Walking home slowly. He didn't really mind the rain. It kept people from seeing the tears that ran down his face. When he got into his little apartment he spent an hour taking a shower, or at least standing in the shower and watching the blood run off his arm, but it didn't feel as though it were coming off.

During Rin's memorial service only a few people came. It consisted of Obito, Kakashi, Minato, Hiruzen, and various family members of Rin's that Obito didn't recognize. A few classmates came as well, but that seemed to be all. He wanted to cry out to the rest of the village, make them pay their respects to the woman who'd selflessly given her life for her village. But they would never do that. Shinobi died constantly and villagers kept on living their own lives. One more dead was of no consequence to any of the other shinobi in the village. He sighed shuddering a little as he cried again. Near the end he went forward putting a dozen roses on her grave. He wiped the tears from his eyes and placed a kiss on the tombstone. Both he and Kakashi stood awhile after the ceremony had finished, staring at their teammate's grave, remembering memories of her happiness.

"Obito…I'm sorry." He mumbled.

Obito could only look up in surprise and waited for the silver haired shinobi to explain himself.

"I couldn't protect Rin."

Obito shook his head, "No. I couldn't protect her either. I-I just…miss her so much…" Kakashi caught him as he began to cry into his shoulder. Both shook in their sorrow for their dead teammate.

"I do too, Obito" Kakashi said, "I do too." He patted Obito on the back and as he got ready go he whispered, "Crybaby."

"Shut…shut up," Obito said standing straight. The two left Rin's grave together and soon went their separate ways home.


	3. Chapter 3

Hey! Thanks for reviews and stuff! Hope you like this chapter!

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As Obito got home from the funeral he got out of his black outfit and made his way to the hamper where his torn, bloodied old clothes lay. After the cave in, he'd asked Aunt Mikoto to sew them back up for him, but now, the clothes repulsed him. He took them out of the hamper and threw them in the garbage can. Then he went to his bed and stared out the window. His goggles lay on the sill next to his picture of his teammates when they first became a full team. Kakashi had already been a chunin then of course. He laughed a little to himself as he stared at the picture and noticed that he'd put white tape over Kakashi. Slowly he took the picture and began peeling the white tape off smiling to himself at the memories it brought back of their rivalry…and of Rin who crouched in between them peace signs aglow with her fingers.

His heart felt heavy with that picture and he ran his thumb over her. He put the picture back where it was before. He was vaguely aware of the smell of blood that was coming from his trashcan. Slowly he sighed, getting up and taking the trashbag out of its place and taking it outside to the dumpster. He deposited it quickly, happy to be rid of the acrid smell. As he stopped to take a breath of fresh air he noticed an old woman from his clan struggling up the steps of her house while carrying some groceries. He went up to her kindly taking the heavy bags from her.

"Obito, why that wasn't necessary, you're too kind," she said opening her door after he helped her up the steps,"Come in, come in, would you like some tea while you're here?"

"Oh, yes, that would be nice," She set the water to boil and sat down across from him, "Obito, I haven't seen you in a long time, I've been hearing stories about your teammate, Rin was it?"

At the mention of Rin, Obito looked away unable to stand the name. Even the mention of it brought pain to his heart. For the last few days, it had been hard leaving his home, and facing other people. Everywhere he went, the pain followed, people would mutter as he walked by. Sometimes he wanted them to just go away, and leave him in peace.

"Oh…yeah."

"I'm sorry. Loss is always painful," she poured the tea and Obito took it quietly.

"Obito, you've always been so kind to the elderly in Konoha. And to repay you, I have a warning…or two rather."

Obito looked up in surprise, "Warnings?"

"Yes. There is trouble brewing about the eye you gave to your friend- the son of the White Fang. Our fellow clan-mates are not happy about it. I advise you to move out of the premises before they bring it up with you. And as for the second warning…a rumor is floating around, that you killed more than two dozen of the Mist's best. Beware the pain your heart causes you. Loss is a terrible thing, but do not fall into an endless pit of hatred and fall into the jaws of the Uchiha Clan's Curse of Hatred. You're too kind for that Obito. I do not want to see you fall victim to such a cruel existence as the rest of our clan lives in. Remember your friends, remember who they are…and remember what that girl sacrificed herself for. And never lose hope."

Obito blinked in suprprise at the old woman who only smiled kindly in response. What was Rin's legacy…why had she sacrificed herself? He'd been wondering. And Sandaime hadn't brought it up yet. They had simply studied her body and then put her in a grave. He remembered the funeral and bit back the tears threatening to come.

"But…why are you telling me this, aren't you an Uchiha too?"

"Yes…but I've grown old and tired of hating. We are ninja's of Konoha more than we are a clan. Many clans make up the village, we are but one. And there are but few of us who don't hate so much, you, Shisui, and Itachi are those who I hope will one day lead the clan away from this stupid anger that's brewed in our clan for far too long."

But why would he hate Konoha? It wasn't their fault she'd died. He'd been reminded of the story of the White Fang, how he also committed suicide. The image of Rin impaling herself on Kakashi's arm came back. It was the Kiri ninja, they were responsible… they were the cause behind her death. Whatever they'd done to her to make her do it, it was their fault, and he'd taken his revenge…in fact, he'd been horrified by the level of damage he'd committed, horrified that he could actually do such a thing.

She smiled warmly, sensing that she needed to change the topic, "Oh I have a present for you," she pulled out a small package, "You seem to be growing again, so Mikoto and I decided to make you a special new t-shirt, I hope you like it dear."

Obito opened the package that revealed a white t-shirt with the clan's symbol on the back and on the sides was the Uzumaki clan's symbol that almost everyone in the clan wore to symbolize the union of the Uzumaki clan and the village. Obito grinned, "I love it, thanks!"

"You take care Obito."

"You too, Grandma"

She smiled and he went on to his apartment. But as he did his mood began to trench again. They lingered on her first warning that the clan was getting irritated with him over that stupid eye. But he already knew they didn't like him. He lacked the rest of their sense of hatred, and he wasn't as elite as the rest of them wanted him to be. He would move out soon and leave them to broil. He didn't need any of them. And he cared even less about clan responsibilities anymore anyway they didn't deserve anything from him. Rin was certainly not a part of their clan, and he'd loved her more than anyone in the damn clan.

Obito left the compounds the next day. He walked slowly and let his feet take him to his destination. He didn't really know where his destination was until he was halfway there. He'd found himself passing the Yamanaka clan flower shop. He turned on his heels and went in.

"Obito, nice to see you today, looking for anything in particular?" the blonde man asked.

"Yeah, I'll take a dozen roses," the usually obnoxious boy said quietly. He took the roses and walked slowly on to his final destination. When he got there he set the roses down next to the ones from the day before. Slowly he sat down in front of the grave. And the tears began to come. Even just sitting there made him weep. He found that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't seem to stop crying.

"Rin…why? Why did you have to do it? What did they do to you …to make you…kill yourself?" he touched the tombstone gingerly, "I love you." He whispered. He stayed there for hours wishing the tears would dry out, and at some point they did, but he didn't feel any better. It must have been well past noon when another figure came to stand next to him. The figure was the ever recognizable Kakashi.

Obito turned away from the other boy, if Kakashi got the chance he'd make fun of him again for crying…or at least, old Kakashi would. New Kakashi simply stood there limply, his visible eye full of sadness and disregarding the rule that ninja don't show their emotions. Obito stood up and got ready to leave and let the other boy mourn by himself in peace. But as he began to leave, a hand went to his shoulder, "please…stay."

Obito stared at the other boy in surprise, "okay," he sighed and stood next to his friend. Kakashi seemed to be the only person in the entire village who could understand his pain…perhaps even moreso. Even sensei coulnd't understand.

"Do you know why…she did it?" Obito asked after a few moments of silence between the two.

"No. Sandaime said he wouold inform us after the autopsy."

Uchiha ground his teeth together, "So why hasn't he told us yet?"

A certain look from Kakashi's eye said he had been wondering the same thing, but he comforted his friend, "He will."

But Obito turned, that was going to cut it, "I'm going there now, I can't take it anymore. I want to know."

Kakashi took one last look at the grave, before going and joining Obito. If he wasn't there, then Obito was sure to make a fit. He'd been worried for Obito's sanity for the last few days. The slaughter which he'd woken up to find the clearing in after the girl killed herself made him worry. He didn't want Obito to become a senseless killer. And he was really beginning to miss the old carefree Obito a lot lately.

This time they took the less conventional route to Sandaime's office through the window. The old man was filling out paperwork when he was disturbed by the two. He looked up to see them staring at him, and neither looked very happy. Kakashi though had a look of boredom on his face, but if one looked deeper into his eye, he could see the sadness lurking deep within.

"What is it?" the old man asked.

"You said you'd tell us what you found in the autopsy." Obito answered.

The old man grit his teeth, the boy was not his usual happy self anymore. He quickly considered the consequences of telling him the truth over not telling him at all. Both might end badly. He'd need to talk to Kakashi separately after this. Kakashi could at least accept death for the most part even if it did hurt him and scar him deeply.

He sighed, "For some unknown reason we found a special seal on Rin's stomach. It was a seal for a tailed beast."


	4. Chapter 4

Ah! Sorry I'm late dear followers, I kind of ran into a roadblock with the story. Please forgive me! And I hope you enjoy!

"What!? But how? What was she doing with a tailed beast inside of her?" Obito demanded; the anger obvious in his tone.

"We believe that Kiri wanted to release the three tails into the village when Rin was brought back into the village with you. They had her under a special jutsu to control the three tails. It seemed that she committed seppuku of her own free will to protect the village."

Kakashi froze. _Seppuku._ The last person he'd know who'd done that had been…that man. Obito noticed his friend's stature change. Kakashi's figured straightened, it grew more stiff. Emotions that he had worked so hard to conceal were coming up. So many years, it had taken to become stoic. To become hardened against such pain. He hated feeling his emotions. Kakashi had heard enough, he turned to leave. His steps were heavier than before. Hiruzen sighed deeply, "You may go now."

Obito nodded and ran after his friend. Kakashi dragged his feet, slowly.

"Wait! Kakashi, stop!"

Kakashi did as he was told and waited for his friend to speak.

"The White Fang, he committed suicide too, didn't he?" Obito said.

"So?"

"They're both heroes of the village. We should honor them as such."

Kakashi looked over his shoulder. Maybe they were heroes, and maybe they weren't. But before too long, Obito had attacked him with a hug and was sobbing into his shoulder. Kakashi didn't know what else he could do but hug back and for a few minutes, it was all they did. Obito was surprised to feel the comforting hug from his friend. It was warm and when he looked up, Kakashi was shedding tears as well. It made his heart swell all the more.

"N-ninja rule number th-three. A-a ninja m-must not…show emotion."

"Shut up."

Outside the sun shone through the clouds for the first time in days. The two boys looked up and wiped their tears away. All they could do was stare at it. Slowly Obito smiled, "Kakashi, don't you die on me, not anytime soon anyway."

"As long as you don't either, Obito."

Slowly the two walked home in silence and peace. For some reason they were comforted that Rin had died for them, for the village. As they rounded the corner to the Uchiha grounds Obito stopped, "Kakashi, I'll have to move out in a few days. But it's best you don't go in there. My clan isn't really all that happy about the whole eye thing."

"Right," Kakashi nodded, turning to go.

Obito went back to his apartment. Eyes followed him through the night. He looked back at them, sharingan met with sharingan. He hoped none of them knew that he'd used mangekyo to fight off the Kiri ninja. Grandmother certainly hadn't said anything of it. He came wearily upon his door. At the door was the face of his rotten landlady.

"You have seven days to move out, and I mean out of the Uchiha grounds. You're being banished."

He blinked, then snickered, "Pfft, whatever, I was going to move out soon anyways."

"Good riddance, I don't want any trouble in my complex."

She stalked off. That was how she was, dense, and straight to the point in Obito's opinion. He watched her go. Down below he was surprised to see many of the clan members glaring at him anger in their eyes. She went down to them, "Get out of here, you're disturbing my complex."

"We want Obito Uchiha."

"Too bad, whenever the hell he moves out then you can go after him. But not here, and not now, it's dusk, and I don't want any damage to my buildings so get off my property!"

Maybe she wasn't quite so bad after all. He sighed; he didn't need her to defend him. Instead he went inside and quietly began packing away his possessions. Obito had more than standard ninja did. He wasn't really into living the Spartan lifestyle like Kakashi probably did. But really he didn't have much, even now as he looked around at the few things he had packed away. Just some clothes, two plants who he'd affectionately named Tsubaki and Bunto. There were of course the obvious commodities and some old comics books and movies to keep him busy in case he was severely bored. But these days it was rare since he'd been burdened with missions during the war. His stomach growled as he finished. He stood up and casually wandered into the kitchen. As he did his eye caught something…or rather, someone sitting on his window sill. His eyes widened as he beheld Fugaku, the clan's leader. It seemed that old wench hadn't been able to say no to everyone.

"Obito…I'm sure you've been told by now. You're to be banished, but I'll give you one more chance, but you must reclaim you eye."

The fear that had suddenly welled up in his chest, disappeared just as quickly as before, to be replaced by anger, "No. I hate this clan anyway. You're all so uptight and you're all such assholes. I'm not an elite, and who wants to be a part of this stupid clan anyway. I'm leaving. I'm already packed up. Go away Fugaku."

The man's movements were swift, but Obito caught them, and was able to move out of the way in time as Fugaku swung a sword toward the boy's throat. Obito countered instead and kicked the sword out of the hand. Inside he could feel his blood boiling, that rage…that rage he'd felt before… _no, no don't let it control you_, "I said leave me alone." He caught the sword and swung it in Fugaku's direction, or rather for the throat. Fugaku didn't flinch, Obito wanted him to be afraid of him suddenly. _Control_.

"Don't be a fool, I'm a Jounin level ninja."

"So, I killed Jounin and ANBU from Kiri," Oh the anger that was building inside his gut. He could feel it getting all the more out of control, the blood rising into his face, the words that were infurioriating him. He kicked Fugaku in the gut and then punched. He was tempted to go further but he stopped, forcing his mind into a calm, but he wasn't sure it was working, because his next words still trembled with rage, "I'll spare you for Itachi and Aunt Mikoto's sake. Go away Fugaku. I'm not the punk kid who can be laughed at anymore, and I'm sick of you and all the others underestimating me. I'm not some damn punk kid anymore! So you go back and you tell them that if they touch my friend I'll kill you! I'll kill you all, the way I killed those Kiri nin! Get out of here! Leave me alone!"

The boy threw the man into the wall, anger in his eyes. And then he let go of the man and thrust the sword into the drywall. Fugaku was hardened though, and he took the sword out of the wall and sheathed it. He turned away from the boy, "Then get out, and don't let me lay eyes upon you again within these walls."

"As long as I don't have to lay eyes on your scummy walls again!" Obito yelled.

Fugaku disappeared with the teleportation jutsu and Obito was alone again. And not only that, he wasn't hungry anymore.


	5. Chapter 5

I'm so incredibly sorry everyone! Oh man, so much crap just happened, I started college and I had a serious writing block. I'm so sorry! But I finally got another chapter up! And hopefully I can get back to doing that more often now. So, I hope that this is alright. I also edited some of the other chapters a little, but yeah. okay, I'm done, I'm sorry.

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The rage burned so deeply and for so long after his encounter with Fugaku that he hadn't gotten much sleep the night after. In fact he'd almost left right then and there, except that some part of him that was more sensible in the back of his brain told him not to. He lay in his bed the entire night, stewing. Memories came up, awful memories of how the clan used to treat him. Such dumbass's, he thought. They'd always had their noses stuck in the air, elite ninja. He scoffed, well, he didn't need them, he didn't need any of them.

The night seemed endless as he lay there, and slowly, slowly the darkness finally consumed him and then, almost as though seconds had gone by, rather than hours, it was morning.

Kakashi sat up in his bed, his heart was pounding and his head was spinning. Blood…so much blood…and that same nightmare… He looked down at his hands in horror… so much blood. They trembled with guilt, even after what Shiruzen had said…he could feel it, he was really the one guilty…his hand …his hand had been the one…that killed her.

He jumped out of bed and towards the faucet in his kitchen, turning on the running water and putting large droplets of soap on his hands. For a few minutes he scrubbed, and he scrubbed, his heart sank…it wasn't coming off. It would never come off, almost as though it were tattooed on there.

"No…it…it won't come off…" he whispered to himself in despair.

"What won't?" a voice behind him spoke. Kakashi felt himself jump, and turned to see Obito putting down two large cardboard boxes on the floor.

"O-Obito…" Kakashi could still feel his heart beating at a million miles per hour… He tried to calm himself, put on the stoic mask he'd been struggling with for the past few days, "W-What are you doing here…?"

Obito wasn't wearing the standard blue and orange he used to wear. Instead he wore some black trousers and a purple t-shirt. The only thing that seemed familiar were the goggles on his forehead and the eye-patch.

"Oh…well, you know, the clan banished me last night, so…I figured maybe I could hole up in here for a while until I found a new apartment," he grinned.

Kakashi's heart had slowed down a little, and he spoke more evenly this time, "I thought you were supposed to get thirty days of notice before being evicted. And how the hell did you get in here, my door was locked!?"

"Huh? Come on Kakashi, we live in a village of ninja! A stupid lock isn't even gonna keep me out," he grinned before remembering there was another part to the question, "Oh yeah…they only gave me seven. But who wants to stay in that dump anyway. Just a bunch of nasty, stuck up, losers."

Kakashi sighed within, it was strange, at one time, he'd been on that list of losers too.

"Yeah…sure, that sounds fine," He sighed and went back to the sink, this time though he leaned against it, "Err…do you want something to eat? I just got up myself, so, I'll be making breakfast."

"Oh yeah, I'm starving! I didn't even it dinner last night."

That was strange, Kakashi thought to himself. Obito normally inhaled food the moment he lay eyes on it. Anything, even curry. He caught himself remembering something…curry.

_At some point, before Obito had fully recovered and his self confidence had reached an all time low, Gai had offered to get him some curry. _

"_It'll fix you right up! Curry! The everlasting nectar of youth!" Gai had shouted as the waitress put down four bowls of curry for them. _

"_This is a terrible idea," Kakashi_ _said miserably. He didn't even want to think what would happen. Obito was not fit to be eating this. He remembered turning to Rin who'd been sitting next to him, "Rin, you're the medical ninja, tell this idiot that he's going to kill Obito."_

_Rin had giggled, "It's okay Kakashi. I'm sure Obito's going to be fine, and actually I have seen patients who actually did get better over a dish of curry."_

"_No." it was unbelievable._

_She nodded._

_He turned back to Gai desperately, "His stomach's too weak to handle curry, Gai, this is nonsense."_

_While the two of them had been arguing, Obito had already been shoveling the food into his mouth with his left hand… "Water! I need water!" he yelled and suddenly the two were in a turmoil and running from one end of the restaurant to another searching for water. Rin had solved the situation in no time with a canister which she was holding up to Obito's lips. His face had already gone red and sweaty from the heat, but somehow it' had gotten redder now that Rin was helping him drink the water. Finally after finishing every last drop he wiped his lips and pushed the bowl away wth his free hand, he grinned at Kakashi, "Wow, Kash, I didn't know you cared so much."_

_Kakashi had blushed a little and turned away after that, and resigned never to eat curry again._

Those had been the good old days, when they were three. When even after the accident they were still together. He sighed, he missed those days, those days when the blood on his hands had never really mattered so much.

Obito stared at the small apartment. He silently congratulated himself on the Spartan possessions as he gave himself a tour. It was, as he expected, nothing special, in fact it was downright depressing. The apartment had one room, a kitchen and a bathroom. He was sleeping on a mattress on the floor and around the room was a chair, a dresser, a small entertainment center and a small shelf of books. He walked over to the books; most were, as expected, ninja training books. He frowned, didn't this guy ever read for fun? Then again, Obito wasn't much of a bookworm himself. He went on to the movies piled up on the small entertainment center. There were not very many and once again, none of them seemed incredibly interesting…more ninja how too's in fact.

And then, just as boredom was about to creep up on him, he smelled the divine smells of eggs and bacon. His feet drug him towards it where he sat on a stool on the other side of the stove, watching as the food cooked on the stove. Kakashi looked up, a small look of annoyance, but he didn't say anything, instead he found two plates and put the breakfast on them, shoving one in front of his friend and taking the other and sitting on the other stool next to Obito.

They ate in silence. Kakashi knew that after another couple of days, they'd be back to missions again; this week was a recovery, for both him and Obito, a recovery for their trauma. He took a glance at Obito who had as usual been inhaling the food; he was wearing a mast too. A mask to hide the pain he was in over losing rin. He was doing a good job too. Kakashi noted that Obito used to be terrible at hiding his emotions…in fact, he used to not care so much, but now…now you could see that he was deliberately shoving them down. And maybe it was good that he was doing that…especially after what he'd done… the memory of the blood that had surrounded them, filled Kakashi's mind again. He felt a shiver run down his spine. Obito…the wimp, the kid who could never do anything right… the one who'd been made fun of by everyone. He would never have guessed he'd been capable of so much anger, so much hatred and so much death.

"Obito…" Kakashi could feel his voice quiver a little…did Obito hate him?

"Hmm?" Obito looked over, swallowing the last of the egg.

"Do…do you hate me?"

Obito was caught off guard by the question, he blinked a little, "Well…way back when, I used to hate you, but that's cus you were always shoving it in my face that you were better than me and always had your nose stuck up in the air. But now, you're not such a bad guy after all."

"No…I didn't mean it that way… I mean…I…my hand…" his voice quivered, he wasn't sure he'd be able to say it, "Never mind, forget it," He stood up abruptly and cleared the dishes off the table and shoved them into the sink. He quickly washed them and took out his shorts and t-shirt and headband and put them on.

Obito watched Kakashi quickly do everything he needed to and then stomped out of the apartment, "I'm going out, do whatever…make yourself at home, I…I need some fresh air…"

Obito watched the door close and sighed, he felt like Kakashi was about to say something important, but he sighed, whatever. But his mind was churning, and he remembered hearing Kakashi saying something about 'it' not washing off. He slid off of the stool and went to the bed.


	6. Chapter 6

Together as One chapter 6

Kakashi strolled through the village. Inside him the question burned, was he at fault? Everyone else seemed to think it was a suicide, but the blood on his hands said otherwise. He slumped against the wall of a nearby building, feeling the pain of a thousand different emotions rise up. Inside of him, it burned, all the pressure, all the pain…would everyone around him die? The White Fang, who'd also committed seppuku, Obito who'd been on the verge of death not two years before, and now Rin…

Obito woke later that afternoon to find Kakashi still wasn't back. He sighed and pulled himself out of the bed wondering where he was going to sleep for the night. He opened up his boxes and began rummaging through them, looking for his sleeping bag. For now it would work fine, it would be just like roughing it. Just underneath a roof, as a ninja it was nothing special. He set it down, next to Kakashi's sad little mattress. One thing was for sure, he was certainly not spending the rest of the week on the floor. He pulled his shoes back on and left the apartment as well, resigning that he would get his own apartment by the end of the week.

Besides, living with Kakashi would probably be a pain in the ass. The sun shone again, bright in the sky, but low. He wondered how late it was. Slowly, Obito strolled through the village, his eyes scanning over apartment buildings and trying to find telltale signs that they were for rent. He didn't check very many, it was getting too late. But somehow, the cool air that accompanied the darkness was comforting. Finally he turned to head back to Kakashi's apartment when he passed the flower shop…flowers. Suddenly they became a sign, an unpleasant sign, especially roses. He hated roses the most. He'd brought roses to Rin's funeral. Now he wanted to take them…and burn them. Sighing bitterly, he felt the negative emotions he'd been trying hard all day to block come back up. He frowned. His hands clenched into fists, _why Rin…why did you have to leave me…_

The tears, and the pain that accompanied them over his heart wanted to burst. Not only that, the anger, the anger at the Kirin in. No…killing them wasn't enough, he wanted more, he wanted them to suffer, the way he was suffering.

_No…no, control yourself. You're not a part of the Uchiha clan, you shouldn't be under their curse of hatred either! Get a hold of yourself. Everyone loses people its just life. _

The pep talk only half worked, he didn't feel like killing them anymore, but the anger was still there, the sadness, and the emotions. Now he could see why Kakashi was so keen on hiding them all the time… they hurt so bad that it was almost unbearable. And his stupid clan, all they'd cared about was their stupid genetic family trait, naïve fools. They could shove their stupid eyes up their asses for all he cared. He passed the Uchiha gates on the way to the apartment and glared sticking his tongue out at them. Somehow being immature about it all felt better to. He sighed as he got to the apartment complex and opened the door.

That night, neither of them talked over dinner. Obito was reminded of the question Kakashi was going to ask him earlier, but he decided it was no use now to try and get it out of him. As Kakashi walked to the bathroom to get ready for bed he noticed the sleeping bag lying on the ground. It was blue and Obito lay in it reading a book, something he'd pulled out of his junk boxes from the looks of it. He really hadn't been in the mood to talk to anyone that day. And after his morning with Obito he hadn't talked to anyone since. The pain was still burning inside of him. His sensible mind, it told him Obito didn't hate him, wouldn't. It told him he was fine. But it was hard to listen to the sensible part of the mind when everything around you was so painful and the world didn't seem to be living in sensible terms either. He finished washing his face and hands…no his hands were still dirty. He stopped looking at them, it was too painful and instead he turned off the lights, while hearing a small protest from the sleeping bag.

Kakashi didn't turn the lights back on, instead he trampled to the mattress and heard Obito shut the book and toss it into a nearby corner. He had a feeling Obito was a generally unkempt house owner. A feeling of foreboding clouded him as he wondered how messy it would be by the end of the week…which speaking of:

"Obito, you're welcome here as long as you need, but you're going to have to get an apartment some time soon er or later."

Obito yawned and answered something semi-intelligeable like "Surewhatevs."

Kakashi sighed and pulled himself down into the sheets and rolled over, facing away from the other ninja. The quiet was settling in, Kakashi was actually afraid to go to sleep. He was afraid of that dream. And then someone spoke again, "Hey, Kakashi?"

"Hmm?" Kakashi groaned as though he was annoyed at being kept up.

"What were you going to say earlier?"

"About what?"

"You know, you asked me whether I hated you or not…what did you mean?"

Kakashi frowned against his mask; he'd really hoped Obito wouldn't bring it up again.

"Nothing, now go to sleep."

Obito frowned, he wasn't satisfied, he wanted to take it further, but he didn't. So he lay back down and let the other sleep. Truth to tell, Obito wasn't especially tired himself. But that probably came from sleeping all day, he told himself. No, he hadn't slept all day, only part of it, maybe five hours, but not all of it. But despite it all, after a little bit of rustling here and there he managed to get to sleep.

Kakashi on the other hand lay on his make-shift bed, eyes wide open, trying to avoid the night, trying to avoid the sleep. Somehow Obito was becoming nonchalant, like all the others. Pain gripped him, Obito had been the one who'd loved Rin…why was he the one who was acting…so normal about it?

Momentarily Kakashi began to hear the sounds of snoring beside him. They weren't obnoxious, just light. Somehow they were mesmerizing, and slowly the sounds lulled him to sleep, and somehow, knowing that someone else was in the room with him…it made a difference, it was comforting.


	7. Chapter 7

Hello everyone, and Happy Halloween! Anyhow, here's another chapter, I hope you like it. Thanks for the reviews! I love them! Enjoy!

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Obito yawned the next morning as he awoke. Kakashi lay on the mattress next to him, and already it looked more inviting then the floor. He began wondering why Kakashi hadn't gotten himself a bed. He was a jounin, after all, it wasn't like he was short on money these days. Speaking of money, Obito crawled to his ninja pack and pulled out his cat shaped wallet. It wasn't as fat as he'd like it to be, but it wasn't too terrible. He counted the money silently making sure as to be extra quiet and not wake Kakashi. Kakashi rolled over in bed tossing and turning, as though he was having a bad dream. Obito frowned, his own dreams had been plaguing him lately. And lately…it was even hard to convince himself to sleep.

Kakashi rolled over again and muttered something in his sleep. Obito sighed, turning back to his money, a whole seven thousand yen…maybe it could pay for the down payment. Then he got up and walked to the boxes, rummaging through them again. He really needed to find an apartment of his own soon, rummaging through things was a mess and a pain in the ass, and so was being considerate of another person's sleep. It was funny, Obito could remember their chuunin and (well, his gennin for a while) days when Kakashi would always be the first up and lecture them all about oversleeping. Now Obito was the one getting up early. But it was hard to sleep.

Finally he found a pair of clothes that suited him. He decided Kakashi wouldn't mind him using his shower, and quietly, Obito closed the door turned on the hot water and got in.

Kakashi woke up moments after hearing the sound of the shower come on. It was in his nature, sleeping deeply was not a part of being a ninja, or at least, if a ninja wanted to survive that was. The nightmare had finished early. Somehow, Kakashi was relieved, at least there was one way the other ninja was helping him…he didn't have to see that face…and hear his name being spoken through those dying lips. And the blood. He'd been saved, saved from the pain, for one day in the past few he'd been given a break. But even so…even without the dream…all he could see was blood. And the sharingan…the sharingan Obito had given him was forcing him to see it all the time these days. Every intricate detail, he remembered.

He got up again, and went to the sink trying to scrub his hands free of the terrifying red liquid. Abruptly Obito came out, yawning and stretching with another new set of clothes on him. What had ever happened to the blue and orange jacket he wore and the blue pants? Today it was blue pants with an orange pinstripe…well maybe everything hadn't changed. But the shirt was black. The eyepatch was on, as usual and the headband still waiting on the floor with his old clothes.

Their breakfast took on a much simpler form than it had the day previous, instead it was rice and some meat for filler. Obito didn't seem to care, he went after it, finishing quickly and set the bowl down in the sink afterwords, "Hey, Kakashi. I'm going to head around town and see what apartment's I can find to rent for cheap today, so I'll see you around."

Kakashi nodded, and watched and then noticed that Obito had left both his headband and his goggles behind. His eyes furrowed, Obito had been acting so carefree…like nothing had happened. But then again, ever since finding out Rin had been turned into a jinchuriki neither of them had talked about it. Anger welled up inside of Kakashi, he knew that Obito didn't have an aptitude for hiding his feelings, yet for the past two days he'd been so nonchalant. It was almost like Kakashi was the only one left to suffer. He slammed his fist into the counter-top feeling the anger spread through him, as well as the pain spreading from his knuckles. Pain…

_And what are you going to do today?_ His mind demanded. What would he do? Wander the streets, go to Rin's grave? Obito was the one who'd loved her…now he was acting like it was nothing…almost like they'd never had a teammate. Finally he calmed himself down, _Rule number three, a ninja never shows emotion. Rule number three, rule number three, calm down. Obito's just being sensible, and if he can, then so can you._

But still, it was almost like cruelty. It would be better if he were on a mission right now, a mission so he could get it off his mind, make the pain go away. Make it harden. Just like Obito had done so easily, so obviously.

He stood up, got his t-shirt on and shoes and ninja pack. Today he'd go find Minato sensei, who was due to be Hokage soon. Minato sensei would understand, he'd let him go on a mission. With his problems seemingly resolved, he got up and slowly walked to the door. He wondered if he should bother locking it or not, Obito had come right in with no problems, and it wasn't like there was anything to steal in this worthless place.

Slamming the door shut behind him, he thought, _Screw it. Who needs a lock in a community of ninja's anyway?_

Slowly with melancholy, he trudged down the stairs and walked to where Minato sensei's house was, somewhere on the other side of town. Hopefully he'd be in, if not, then Kakashi could wait…it wasn't like he had anything else to do these days.

On the way, he passed some classmates. They all sat in a dumpling shop…well not all of them, some were out on missions, but enough. They called out his name and tried to ask him to come over. The anger shot up through him again, how could they all be so…happy? He knew why, none of them had lost anyone yet. Not a single one. He grit his teeth underneath his mask, and refused to look at them. He wouldn't give them the satisfaction. And then there was Gai.

"Kakashi! Time for another…"

Kakashi slipped past the so-called-green beast and walked on, he wasn't interested. He had other, far more important things to do.

As he walked off, he heard the other children say things. Years ago he'd been used to it, hardened to it.

"Geez, what's with him?"

"Jerk.

"What an ass."

"Maybe he's still sad about Rin."

"Yeah, maybe, but he doesn't have to be a jerk about it."

The voices were too far away to hear now. He sighed and walked on…into the darkness. Into the abyss.

Obito walked slowly studying apartments, the stucco walls, the paint jobs. He wasn't picky, a small apartment would do, and most people knew that ninja were the best tenets you could have because ninety percent of the time they were off on missions or something of that nature. Obito had actually already found a suitable place to settle down in. It was on the southern side of Konoha, near the mountain where the Hokage faces were. From there he could see the sun set at night. And it had a bed. He laughed at himself a little, two days without a proper bed…and he was complaining.

Really all this searching had to do with keeping his mind off of the obvious. The pain that lay, lurking, deep inside of him. He wanted to get rid of the pain, and the only way he figured on doing it, was just keeping himself busy, even if the things he was doing for the moment were just bullshit. Slowly he passed the memorials…and stopped. His heart dropped instantly and the memories, sharpened by the sharingan came flooding back. He sighed, he'd been hoping to avoid it, but now it was too late and his steps led him straight to the black stone with the names carved into it.

Slowly he knelt down and stared at the face of the stone. And slowly it all collapsed, the wall of happiness he'd been building, everything just tumbled down.

"Rin…" he cried slightly. The pain was in his chest. Gnawing at him, "Rin…oh Rin…"

Here…it was alright to cry. Here, no one could judge him for it. Here, he was safe from all pondering and ruthless eyes. He traced her name slowly with his fingers.

It must have been half an hour that he was there, and finally the tears had dried and he was able to get up and brush himself off. He turned slowly and headed back out. He decided he was done with the day and walked home. Durning that time someone tapped his shoulder, he looked over, seeing Asuma, Gai and Kurenai.

"Obito, what's up with Kakashi?"

Obito gave them a questioning look, he wasn't sure if he was ready to speak yet in his normal tone of voice. The tears were still mashed in his throat.

"He walked by us today without ever saying hi. Kind of an ass…"

Obito pursed his lips, the pain of the tears were gone now, replaced by minute irritation at his classmates for their lack of sympathy, but he wasn't sure what to say…everything, every thought seemed to be clouded by emotion. He grit his teeth, "Yeah, well…what do you expect? It's not exactly been the best week, has it. Losing Rin and all…give him a break."

Kakashi waited at the door, and found Kushina who welcomed him in wholeheartedly.

"Kakashi how have you been, it's so nice to see you! Wheres Obito?"

_Wheres Rin? _ Kakashi thought, but he forced it back down.

"Is Minato Sensei here?" he was trying to leave the emotion out of it.

"Oh, yeah, he's in his study, would you like anything, while you're here?"

"No thank you."

His voice was slightly edgy, and as polite as he was trying to be, it wasn't working. She must have sensed it though, because she sighed and went back to find her husband. As she walked, the deep red hair swayed.

"Guess who's here to see you!" she said, so happy…why was everyone so happy?

Then behind the doors, he found some relief, Minato turned in his seat, he looked tired, beaten down from working too hard and for once today, not showing a false lie of being too happy.

"Oh, Kakashi, come in. I was actually about to summon you," he looked up at his wife, giving her a friendly smile indicating that they needed to be alone, she nodded and closed the door, her red hair swaying behind her as she walked away.

"How have you been coping?" Minato asked as he faced his student.

"Fine," he answered dully.

Minato nodded, "It's been a long week for all of us. Sandaime's about to relinquish the chair to me. I have to say I'm somewhat nervous about it. I heard about Obito being banished from the clan, is he doing alright."

"He seems to be doing fine," Kakashi tried, but he couldn't quite keep the harsh bitterness out of his voice.

Sandaime's face fell a little, "Listen Kakashi…"

"Err…Minato sensei, I actually came here, for a request."

"Oh, what kind of request?"

"I'd like to be assigned a mission."

"Are you sure you feel up to it?"

"Yes! It's…it's just, it's getting a little boring around here lately…I feel like I need a mission, to mellow out some."

A warm smile spread of Minato's face, "Well, then I'd like to ask a request of you."

Instantly Kakashi felt all his hopes for a mission fall flat. Minato was going to reject them. What was he expecting anyway, they'd probably assign him a D-rank anyway.

"Wait…just listen for a moment."

Crap…when had he become so easy to read?

Kakashi waited and listened.

"Kakashi, seeing as how I'm going to be Hokage soon, I'd like you to join ANBU. Be my right hand man. You're an excellent ninja, and I know I can trust you."

Suddenly there was elation, hope rose again, ANBU, being in the ranks of Konoha's top ninja. Kakashi liked it, it was like relief to his ears.

Minato must have noticed…damn, and he was wearing a mask. But his logical mind told him to cool down again, it was because Minato had been his teacher for all those years.

"But you won't be able to tell anyone, none of your classmates can know. And that includes Obito."

Kakashi didn't care, he nodded, "I'll do it, Sensei. I promise, I won't let you down…" _I won't let you down…it won't be the same…as what happened to Rin…I won't let you down._

Minato turned to his desk and wrote a note on a piece of paper telling Kakashi where to go so that he could get his uniform and that he'd have to sign some papers in the meantime. They would probably have his uniform by tomorrow evening and a mission the next day. It would be hard, but it would keep him busy. It would keep his mind off of the death…off of that nightmare…off of Rin.


	8. Chapter 8

Hi guys! Sorry again, schoolwork just completely got in the way of updating. But I hope this chapter makes up for it! And thank you for all the reviews! I'm so glad you guys like this story so much! Anyway, enjoy!

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_Three months later_

Slowly everything began to turn in on itself, time had quickened and the long week after Rin's death had finished. Obito had gotten an apartment and had just barely snagged enough time to set everything to just the way he liked it before the missions began coming in again. And Kakashi, suddenly it was like the guy had disappeared off the face of the earth, and it was worrying Obito a bit. Sometimes he wouldn't see him for days on end, and sometimes he'd find out that the others ran across him regularly with a book in hand, reading and paying little to no mind to them.

Not many of them enjoyed Kakashi's sudden attitude change which had taken a turn for the worse. He wasn't the stuck up bastard he used to be, saying things and walking around with a stick up his ass. But he was silent, and slumped forward, hands casually shoved in his pockets and a face as stoic and as hardened as possible.

It had been three months since Rin's death. Obito mourned her still, he mourned her in quiet away from the public, away from where judging eyes could see. Often times he'd take the picture that was set on the frame and cry into it for hours on end. It was hard…and for some reason, it felt like it was getting harder…

No one seemed to want to spend the time with him anymore. Kakashi's sudden disappearance even began making him wonder whether Kakashi really existed in the first place, or if through some sick turn of events, he'd been long dead too, and Obito was really all alone. And Minato sensei was busy, busy with Hokage work that was piling up. Obito understood, everyone was getting too busy…leaving him behind. But he'd been improving, he didn't understand how he'd been left behind, his kamui, it was getting better, it was improving massively, why, sometimes he would have fun sliding in and out of Minato sensei's office without using the door because the guy's expression was so funny whenever he did it. But still…somehow, life had gotten lonely.

Sure, he'd been assigned mission with the other teams, but he felt left out, they could laugh about jokes in their group, personal jokes that they shared between each other. He would often sit on the side and be quiet. Sometimes he'd try to pull off a lame joke of his own, and they might sort of laugh out of politeness for him.

But deep down, he knew…the world was just getting lonelier for him. And at this time, he realized he missed Rin more than ever. Her words would play in and out of his head, _"I'll be behind you all the way"_. But she wasn't. And he wasn't sure whether he was growing more bitter about it or not. Everyday he looked at himself in the mirror, longer than the day before, and he'd look at the scars…he'd pay special attention to the scars in fact. And he wondered…would anyone really want to spend time with someone so deformed…

But something else had been bothering him lately too. Rumors. Rumors around Konoha. No… he shook his head to himself, not just Konoha…everywhere. Once he'd been on a mission to catch a few thieves with Asuma. Once they'd caught one of the thieves, the man had screamed bloody murder into Obito's face "It's you! You! You're…you're him! That…that monster! Friend Killer…_Kakashi!_"

Obito had been so shocked that he'd let the man go, "Friend Killer…I'm…I'm Obito…"

"B-But he has the eye…"

"And he's not a friend killer!" Obito had almost punched the man. Asuma had calmed him down afterwards, explaining to the man that no one was going to kill him, well that was unless he threatened them.

Obito had been laying in wonder for a long time now…wondering. Friend killer…Friend killer…it built up, yes, he remembered it all. His sharingan would never let him forget how Rin had died but…never, not once, had he ever thought it was Kakashi's fault. He'd watched, he'd seen, she'd impaled herself on it so suddenly. It hurt…

But since then, Obito had had a strong urge to find Kakashi, and to find out what the hell it was that he was doing that was making people call him such a nasty, misconceived nickname.

And that was only one time. There were many rumors and misconceptions…but there was always one consistency, he had one sharingan eye, but he wasn't of Uchiha blood. Still, somehow people managed to confuse Obito with Kakashi. And it was bothering him.

Slowly Obito raised himself out of bed…it was final, he'd find Kakashi today…now, and he'd get answers. Obito walked to the mirror. His friends had told him that a lot of times, if Kakashi wasn't on a mission he'd always pass by the same supermarket everyday. You'd think that as a ninja, Kakashi might change his routine around, but it seemed, deep inside, all humans, even ninja were creatures of habit.

He got dressed in a black shirt he'd acquired and blue pants. He pulled on the goggles over his head band and went out into the early morning straight to the dumpling shop where the others said he'd be going by soon.

He trudged there and met with one fellow classmate, one who was one of the few as worried about Kakashi as he was, crazy ass, Gai.

"Obito, I'm glad you decided to join me on this fine day for some dumplings!"

Obito sighed, "I'm not here for dumplings. I'm here to find Kakashi."

Gai's facial expressions fell, into a look of sorrow, "So…you've heard."

"I won't let anyone spread rumors around that aren't true. I'll shut 'em all up…as soon as I get a hold of him and find out what's going on."

"You won't be happy by what you see."

Obito didn't care. A few hours went by…but he waited…patiently. A hawk landed on his shoulder to give him a mission scroll…he didn't care. He shoved it in his ninja tool pack and waited. In the past, Obito had been bad a being patient and waiting. Now…now though, somehow, he'd grown better at it…he wasn't sure how, but somehow he was more willing to let time pass by.

And then, at around eleven in the morning when most of the classmates were there and yapping away, the footsteps sounded and a boy carrying a dark blue book and wearing grey and dark blue clothes walked by. Slumped over and ignoring them. Obito felt his heart beat faster at the thought of the confrontation…and slowly he got up. The chatting in the nearby tables stopped. No one was sure what Obito would do to confront his old teammate. Many had decided it was useless, Kakashi didn't want to socialize, so why try. But Obito was set on doing it. His stomach churned and he wasn't sure why. He told himself to calm down, he'd talked to Kakashi loads of times before, it didn't need to act up now.

"Hey Kakashi!" he said lightheartedly as he went over into the street to greet his old friend, "Long time no see buddy, where've you been."

Kakashi hardly paid him any mind, "go away, Obito."

It was like Obito had just been stabbed. And now all the nerves stopped tangling up and the cool anger and rage was starting to well up. Kakashi was ignoring him…

He crossed his arms, "Oh so that's how it is…first I give you my eye…then Rin dies and now suddenly I'm hearing rumors about Friend Killer Kakashi."

Kakashi stopped in his tracks. Obito watched as his body had tensed and the blood drained away from that already pale skin.

But he didn't look over at Obito, "What did you say?" Kakshi asked, his words were cool like ice.

Obito frowned, "I want to know what's with these rumors I'm hearing about you…What's going on? What have you been doing?"

Now Kakashi looked over and his black eye that wasn't covered by the headband had grown dark with anger. Obito didn't move, he didn't flinch, he'd stood perfectly still, watching.

"It's none of your business."

"It is when your using my eye to terrorize people. So I'll ask again, what are you doing with my eye?"

Kakashi stared at Obito. All this time had gone by and Obito hadn't seemed to care, not once had he seen Obito mourn Rin after finding out she was a jinchuriki…and now…now he'd called him by that hideous name.

Obito's face changed and advanced on Kakashi, "Well! You just gonna stand there! What's with these damn rumors Kakashi! What's all this Friend Killer business, tell me!"

"Shut up!" Kakashi punched him hard in the stomach and then kicked the boy right after, pushing him to the ground. He'd lost it, he'd gone too far. Obito…of all people…he knew it…Obito hadn't forgiven him. He'd just been playing around. Trying to be polite like the rest of them. The jerk.

"You shouldn't be talking!" Kakashi yelled at the figure on the ground, "All this time you haven't once been mourning Rin's death! You don't know what it's like! I wake up every day…with blood! Blood on my hands. You have no right to question me! You never really loved her! Or else you wouldn't have been so damned happy all the time afterwards!"

That had struck a nerve…Kakashi saw it. But he didn't regret it. But he saw it. Suddenly the boy below him changed, his facial expression looked mad, angry…no furious.

"What did you say?" He was fast too, he'd jumped up off the ground and went in for a forward attack. It surprised Kakashi a little when Obito pushed him against the wall as hard as possible.

But Kakashi was feeling daring, "I said you never loved her," his eye glared at the other boy's.

Obito's facial expression looked worse, angrier and that sharingan…it was…changing, rapidly spinning around until the regular three commas disappeared, replaced by a triangular form. Then the brawl began. Obito blew a hot fireball at Kakashi and people screamed through the streets, Kakashi used a nearby well to form a water dragon and soaked the other boy. In between the ninjutsu of new earth barriers and lotus fires they punched and kicked. At some point one of them drew a knife. Kakashi had drawn a kunai, and then…then it was lke he was in a dream…no a nightmare, because he kept slicing at Obito but Obito wouldn't move wasn't fazed by it and…he could put his arm through him. Growing frustrated he activated it… a shriek that sounded like a hawk sounded through the air and an electrical current passed into Kakashi's hand. Obito had been attacking right and left with taijutus and anything else he could lay on Kakashi. But as the hand lit up, it was almost like they'd reached a consensus. Obito let his hand and the knife faze out for a moment, aiming... And went for the final blow…

"STOP!"

They didn't, they kept running. Minato felt his heart race as the last of his student's dove for one another with deadly jutsu. No one could stop them now, not even the yellow flash was fast enough to diver their attacks from each other. They were going in for the kill…both of them. It was in their eyes, and their jutsu…and suddenly…it ended.


	9. Chapter 9

Yo, hi guys, I'm really sorry I didn't update sooner. I was kind of having doubts about this chapter when I wrote it, and also school has just been slamming me big time with finals and all that fun stuff. But here it is! I finally updated! Anyhow, thanks for the reviews! I love them! They are always welcome. And I hope you like this chapter!

* * *

There was no blood. Only Obito's hand sticking straight through Kakashi's body like a ghost and Kakashi's lightning blade only nanometers from Obito's neck. The looks in their eyes, told the entire story and slowly the sound of the lightning blade died away and Obito pulled out hand from Kakashi's left breast. Kakashi was the first to collapse on the ground, staring at his hand in horror. Obito slumped against the wall and slowly slid down across from him.

A crowd around them had formed, and neither of them had noticed. At the head of the crowd was Yondaime, staring in horror at his students.

Kakashi didn't move, the shock and horror of what he'd almost done, sinking in, slowly but surely. And Obito began to shake violently and tears fell onto the ground. He was the first to notice the crowd, staring, "Just go away!" He threw gravel at them, and the crowd backed away from the angry beast. Kakashi hadn't registered it.

_I…really am…a friend killer…aren't I._

Obito stared at his own hand himself…he'd almost killed Kakashi…one little faze back into this dimension of space and time and his hand could have squeezed, squeezed Kakashi's heart until it burst. He felt disgusted with himself. Slowly, he got up, the crowd moved out of his way as he moved toward a trashcan. A few sickly noises came next and then Yondaime ordered the crowd to dissipate. At first they didn't move…but then, after another, sharper order they did.

"Obito…Kakashi. Come with me."

Obito wiped his face but shook as he moved away from the trashcan…he was having trouble standing…his legs felt wobbly and like they were moving through bodies…bodies with blood… blood everywhere. He shook the thought out of his head violently. Kakashi seemed to be no better off. He slunk staring at his hand and trudging forward after their teacher.

The entire time, Minato never looked back at his students. The horror, the disappointment it was all still developing inside of him. Still simmering. They followed him all the way up to his office. He ordered them to sit down across from him and told his secretary he'd be a while and absolutely no one… not even the daimyo was a loud to disturb him.

And then they sat in silence. Minato watched as the guilt filled their faces. He let it sit there for a few minutes. He really didn't want to lecture them himself…knowing that in the end he'd be sobbing his own eyes out. In reality he wasn't even sure whether he'd really seen what he'd thought he just saw and ran a hand through his thick blonde and somewhat long hair. Sure in the old days they were always yelling at each other with insults and going at each others throats, but never was it deadly. In fact in the past few years since Obito's accident he was sure they'd gotten to be better, closer friends. And now…they'd almost killed each other. As their teacher for what had seemed like eternity, it burned him inside.

Finally he turned to them, each of their faces staring at the ground, both on the verge of tears…even Kakashi.

He didn't even know where to start, "I'd like it if you guys look at me when I'm talking to you. What you did out there was…" he struggled for words, "Reckless, disruptive, no… worse than that, abominable, outrageous, and not what ninja of your class…or any class to be doing! First off, you did it in the middle of a populated area where hundreds of other people could have gotten hurt! And most of them would have been civilians! Ninja are not supposed to be fighting anywhere near the streets, and second! Second, you are both comrades and I know you know what that word means. No, you're not just comrades you're best friends! You never, never, ever, ever! I don't care what the other one says, never throw a deadly punch at another comrade, do you two hear me!? The wrong timing, the wrong move, anything, ANYTHING, would have killed you! I know both of you miss Rin, but this is taking it too far! She would never have wanted this, would she have!? Do you think she wanted to be remembered like this?" Minato could feel himself on the verge of tears. It was hard, it was hard lecturing your students and maintaining that straight face. He wiped a hand over his face and looked outside. Both of them looked guilty, more than guilty, distraught. He knew they understood, but, he couldn't risk both of them dying out of stupid, reckless behavior.

"You're both suspended for three months of all missions. And when you get back to doing missions, I'm assigning you D-rank. Like what gennin get. Obviously you two still think your gennin. Kakashi, we'll talk later in further of your other punishments. Obito…you're not out of the ditch yet either… Both of you are doing a month of public service assignments, volunteer that is. And…and if this ever, ever happens again…I'll throw you out of the land of fire myself. Both of you can be branded as missing nin. Now, go!"

Slowly the two rose and left the office. Minato watched, both slumped over, and he knew, he knew that his punishments were nothing compared to the mental trauma they were facing. Killing an enemy was one thing for a ninja…but killing your friends was another.

The two boys walked out. They're feet dragged behind them and then Obito slumped against the wall, and then down to the bench. He wiped his tears again, but they didn't seem to go away. Kakashi had stopped as well. He didn't face Obito, he felt far too ashamed, far too guilty…Friend Killer…he'd just proved them all right…and it hurt. Obito buried his face in his hands; he didn't want to look at Kakashi. And slowly Kakashi trudged away, down the hall and far away.

* * *

Generally Kakashi and Obito had become dark, dull, and antisocial. Except for the eight hours a day of volunteer work, they didn't come out, they curled up in their little apartments trying to rid their individual minds of the disgusting moment. Sometimes during the volunteering they were forced to work near each other. But both were afraid, afraid to make eye contact with the other. But no one could hold on to their feelings forever. At some point, they couldn't really help but see each other at the end of the day.

The sun was setting and it was their final day of volunteer work. Obito dropped the shovel and yawned facing the sun, "Freedom at last!"

He wasn't quite as enthusiastic as Kakashi remembered him to be all those years before…before everything. But still, it was the first time in weeks that he'd said anything really. But Kakashi wasn't sure whether he was obliged to answer.

Obito didn't say anything…truth to tell, he wanted it all to be over, the stupid feud that had been between them after Rin died, the pain, and the moment he almost made the biggest regret of life. But still, he was unsure if Kakashi was ready, ready to stop fighting, to just be friends again.

Kakashi wasn't really sure himself. Instead he picked up Obito's shovel and walked off to deposit it with his own in the box. They walked home alone, each wondering if there was any way they could make up for their near death mistake.

* * *

It was two days after the volunteer assignment had ended. Kakashi stood in the rain, staring pitifully at the memorial stone before him. For a while he stared and then…he began to cry, it was silent mostly, someone might still be watching. He felt terrible really, he hadn't come to the cemetery in almost more than two weeks, and now he wondered how lonely Rin had been.

"Oh Rin…I'm sorry. You're probably seething mad still, to think we'd fall so low. We're pathetic…I'm pathetic. I'm worse…in ANBU…" he had to stop and choke back a sob. He wiped his eyes again. It seemed pointless though, it was raining, no one would be able to tell. He breathed and went on, "in ANBU…I…I…they call me the friend killer…" it was hard he was trying so hard not to collapse into a small ball and just sob. It was all he wanted to do, "Rin…I'm sorry. I didn't mean it… I didn't. I didn't know…you were…you were just there."

It was about then, that Obito walked up to the cemetery, he stopped short when he saw Kakashi there. At first he thought that maybe he should leave Kakashi alone…but then, curiosity hit him, he was in front of the memorial. Perhaps if he could get a little closer…no that was eavesdropping, and it was none of his business. But curiosity was getting the best of him…maybe if he nonchalantly walked up…

Again Kakashi choked back the sob, swallowing the tears, "And Obito…I, I hated hearing it form his mouth…it hurt…my friend…my best friend…how could he call me that? I…I was just tired of hearing it. Every time someone says it…it hurts…but I really didn't mean it Rin. I just made it worse…I was so hurt I said he never loved you…what was I thinking? Of course he loved you…I remember, you remember…" He wiped his nose, "I'm an idiot, Rin…"

"No, we're both idiots," a familiar voice spoke behind him. Kakashi prickled. And then he heard footsteps until the stopped, close.

"Oh…I didn't…" Kakashi tried to clear his throat and put on his stoic face, "I didn't expect you to be here…"

Slowly he watched as Obito knelt down with a bouquet of flowers. He noticed none of them were roses. That was strange. Before, Obito had brought roses. Carefully Obito stood up and offered a silent prayer to Rin, not like Kakashi who would stand in the rain for hours talking to the dead. But Obito didn't leave, instead he stood beside Kakashi.

Finally when he looked like he'd had everything he wanted to say intact, he turned stiffly to face Kakashi and then…

"Ah! Obito what the hell are you doing!" Kakashi yelled as Obito bear hugged Kakashi.

"I…I can't breath…Obito…OBITO! Get off!"

Obito squeezed harder and it felt good, and then he stopped, for Kakashi's sake more or less. And then he grinned, "I don't think Rin would want us to keep this up. She was always the peacekeeper. She'd want us to just make up and…and be friends again…none of this killing each other crap." Kakashi noticed that Obito was trying really hard to act too cool. It brought back painfully happy memories. And then Obito took Kakashi by the shoulders, "I'm sorry…I'm so sorry I accused you of…of those damned Friend Killer rumors. I was just so worried. Everyone…everyone I came across, they always had something to say about it…I'm sorry Kakashi. I didn't mean it. Please…" there was a definite sob coming. But Kakashi could hardly blame him.

"I forgive you, Obito. I just…I never forgave myself. And I was throwing all of my anger at myself on you."

Obito looked up, into the eyes. The headband was up and he stared into those beautiful mismatched eyes, the eyes that for once, were heavy with distress and emotion. It was touching, really. It seemed like a long time since he'd seen Kakashi look so sad over something.

Thunder sounded nearby. And the rain momentarily began to come down harder. Through it, Obito smiled a little, "Come on, we're getting soaked to the bone out in this weather."

Kakashi nodded as well, "Let's."


	10. Chapter 10

Hello everybody, sorry I haven't been updating more often, but in order to make it up to you, I'm putting two chapters up today! Thanks for waiting, I'm really sorry. I just got a new job and they've been giving me a lot of hours, so I haven't had much of a winter break, and I got sick recently too, which really sucked. Anyway I should probably shut up about the excuses. Thanks so much for the reviews as always I really enjoy reading them and I hope you like the next couple of chapters!

* * *

On their way home in the storm, Obito took it upon himself to decide that they ought to have a celebration commemorating their newly reincarnated friendship. Kakashi had accepted, taking into account that for another two months at least they would have absolutely nothing better to do except for perhaps playing shogi together and watching as fellow teammates went off into an exciting mission while they sat alone in their punishment figuring out where their rent would be coming from. Well, that was mainly a problem for Obito, still being a chunin and all, the paycheck was barely enough generally to get through a month. Kakashi on the other hand figured he was set for a while due to his ANBU pay being relatively high and his jounin paygrade almost as good. The problem was dealing with the boredom, and figuring out how they would celebrate their reunion as friends. They had resolved to buy each other gifts and meet at Obito's new apartment, since Kakashi hadn't been by it yet.

The morning before the celebration, a very tired Obito sat up in his bed, it was ten in the morning at least he was able to sleep in. But it had mean that he would end up training in the heat of the day which was far less desirable. Slowly and lazily he stalked out of bed and made his way to his small little fridge and pulled out some leftovers he presumed were still good. It was after all what he'd be living off of for a while. Maybe during one of his treks to help the old people they might lend him a little bit of food, or he could offer to do some heavy labor for them and offer half the price of a D-rank gennin mission. He felt himself cringe at the idea, but his pocket book wasn't exactly giving him much choice.

The raven haired boy made his way to the low set table on the floor as he began devouring the simple, cheap, and non-nutritious breakfast. He stared at the wall before him the entire time his and as his brain began to function in the light of morning and waking up he began to conceive of an idea for a gift for Kakashi.

An hour later, the Uchiha had set out into the crowded streets of Konoha to find the perfect gift for his stoic friend. It was a long and hard process; many times he found that his cat shaped wallet couldn't afford the things being sold. And after nearly two hours of trekking the Uchiha was ready to give up and buy a cheap souvenir. Why he'd waited this long to buy Kakashi a present in the first place was beyond him, though it was fairly typical for the Uchiha boy to do things last minute. As he wandered the streets in despair suddenly he came across a man sitting in front of a book store hollering to passers-byres to come buy a book personally signed by him. Curious and bored, Obito walked over to the man to review what it was. The man seemed elated as the boy came over. He was old, with too long white hair and a wart on the side of his nose. His Hitai-ate was not a symbol of Konoha but something about a Mountain of Nioboku…

"Wait a minute how old are!?" the man cried out just as the boy was getting ready to review one of his books.

"I'm fifteen!" Obito said, unsure why his age mattered that much to the old man.

The old man frowned in despair, "Well it's an R-18 read only."

R-18…Obito wondered he didn't put the book down immediately, instead he studied the cover, it was a bright orange book with a man indignantly chasing a woman down called Make Out Paradise… he was about to put the book down when suddenly an outlandish idea came to mind, what if he did give this to Kakashi? An obvious smut novel to a stoic kid…he wondered how Kakashi would react to it.

"I'm not buying it for myself," he replied quickly, "It's for a friend! We're errr…celebrating his eighteenth birthday, and err…"

The old man leaned forward, "My dead ass, move on, this isn't for kids."

"Okay, so maybe I was lying but I swear it's not for me! It's for my friend! Look, I don't' have money for anything else! Please, take pity on me, it's just one book, and besides it doesn't even look like you've sold any anyway old man! Okay, wait, I'll make you a deal, I'll buy the book for full price, and then…I'll trim your lawn too! And do any other chores you want done around your home! I have plenty of references!" Obito begged.

The old man looked around carefully, "alright fine, but it's only if you promise not to tell anyone where you got this book from, tell them…I don't know anything. Okay kid?"

"What about the lawn trimming and stuff."

The old man only laughed, "the great Jiraiya of the legendary Sannin never stays in one place for long, therefore I don't need a place of my own!" He said grandly. Obito didn't feel particularly impressed, but gave the man the money anyway, "Thanks a lot, old man! If you ever need anything done, just call on Obito Uchiha, I'm free for the next two months!" he ran off, elated, and happy. A few moments after getting back to his apartment he collapsed on his bed and turned to the book.

"Wait…did he say he was one of the legendary Sannin?" Obito thought about it for a few moments. He knew of the other two Sannin rather well, one was Tsunade who'd helped him after the rock fall accident. The other was one of his classmates' sensei. Though, if you asked Obito, he was a bit of a creep and Obito really felt for the three who'd had to go through training with him.

He sighed, shrugging and picked up the book, he was a little curious after all, it was something he shouldn't have, and he generally liked things he wasn't supposed to have. He flipped through a few pages. The plot seemed fairly boring. He skipped ahead another twenty pages, and then another twenty. He read one page before carefully setting the book down and vowing never to open it again.

* * *

Kakashi on the other hand, had thought all week long on a potential present for Obito. He looked through trinkets, and each time at the thought of gifts, his thoughts fell on the eye that Obito had given him so long ago. It seemed as though nothing could ever match that sort of gift. He was looking for something that Obito would find practical in battle. His primary target was the tens of thousands of ninja shops in the village. Nothing seemed good enough. He searched and searched, for the entire week he searched, he browsed but nothing seemed to sit well with him. It was only on the final day before their little party that he was more frantic about it.

"How could it be this hard to find a gift!" he growled while glaring at the little shops that were almost mocking him, all because he couldn't find a suitable present for his friend.

He'd searched for chakra enhancing blades, ninja books, tools, everything under the sun, but nothing seemed good enough. He almost felt ashamed for not being able to find anything for his best friend. Finally near midday he collapsed on a park bench, he glared at the sky, why was finding a stupid present so hard? It was Obito after all, it wasn't as though his tastes were all that refined. And then his brain clicked, "Of course, why didn't I think of it before!?"

Immediately the boy went home and began to gather photos of Rin that he had, and throughout the day too, he found pictures from sensei of their team together. Some were a little embarrassing, back when Kakashi had been a little more of a prick. He gathered the pictures together throughout the rest of the afternoon and evening, gluing them into pages of an empty scrapbook now being filled. This, he knew, would be the perfect gift for his friend.


	11. Chapter 11

The next afternoon, Kakashi showed up on his friend's doorstep. Shyly, he knocked on the door, and after waiting a while and wondering if the Uchiha was asleep the raven haired boy answered it, "Hey Bakakashi!"

Kakashi groaned inwardly at the given nickname, he was of course used to it by now, but sometimes it still managed to tick him off a little bit.

"Hello Obito. Are you just going to stand there, or are you going let me in?" he asked with a milder tone.

Obito opened the door and let Kakashi wander into the rather small apartment. It was rather sparsely decorated, more so than he expected from someone like Obito. The most intriguing item he seemed to own was a billboard with a few photographs on it. Kakashi smiled a little under his mask.

"So are you hungry?" Obito asked pulling something out of the fridge.

"Sure," Kakashi sat down quietly and carefully set the present down next to him. They were still quieter than usual, though he'd been expecting this. After all, the odds of them forgetting about the previous ordeal that had landed them here were down to zero.

After a few minutes Obito set down a plate before Kakashi and himself, "Whelp, eat up!"

Kakashi got ready to eat when he noticed a fairly odd smell coming from the food, "Obito, what is this?"

"Err…oh you know, fish…"

Kakashi raised an eyebrow, "Fish? It doesn't smell much like fish, and it doesn't really look like fish," he picked at it a little with his chop sticks.

Obito glowered, damn Kakashi and his keen sense of smell, "Well it is, it's a special kind of fish, it's rare and…and, it cost me a fortune to get it, okay?!"

"Oh, well alright then," Kakashi lowered his mask and took one bite while the other boy at the other end of the table watched carefully for his reaction. Kakashi cringed at the taste and was sure this wasn't anything good, in fact if he could define the tastes just right, it tasted like meat gone bad. Instantly he pulled his mask up and pulled his headband up to show his sharingan eye.

Obito gaped, _crap, he'll figure it out for sure now! Damn it of all things I just had to give him that eye!_

"Obito! This is bad meat!"

"Okay, so they're leftovers, but…I don't think they expired just yet!"

Kakashi went to the other end of the table and took both his plate and Obito's while going to the trashcan and throwing both portions of food away, "How long have you been eating 'leftovers' Obito!?"

"Since a month ago when I didn't have any money coming in from missions! And they're not that bad, I mean those expiration dates don't really mean a thing anyway, most food lasts at least a month after it expires."

Kakashi had heard enough, "Well, I'm certainly not letting you eat any more of it, why didn't you say anything!? I would have lent you some money for food."

"Oh come on, I couldn't talk to you for a whole month!"

Kakashi sighed; Obito did have a point there. Instead he put the present on Obito's bed, "come on, we're going to get some real food, not whatever 'leftovers' you've been trying to dish up for a month now."

Obito was drug out of his apartment into the streets of Konoha, the sun still shone bright and hot and he felt his stomach rumble a little for food. But from this point on, he didn't fight over it, he'd just let Kakashi pay for some good food for once at a restaurant and then go back to eating his own food after that. After all he was a ninja; he could go on for a while without regular food.

But rather than take them to a restaurant, Kakashi went all out, he dragged his friend to the local market and packed five bags full of food while paying for it all. Obito ended up carrying most of it. And nearly two hours later they were on their way back to Obito's apartment.

Obito found he was caught between thanking Hatake for the food, and being a little angry that the other thought he was helpless just because of a little old food. Of course as far as carrying the groceries went he didn't mind, it was something he did on a regular basis for older folks around Konoha.

The sun was nearly an hour away from setting by the time they got back to his apartment, he felt starved and ready to complain. He'd take rotten food any day over starvation. But as soon as he entered, Kakashi instructed him to set the groceries on the kitchen counter and go and wait at the table.

At first, the Uchiha was beyond surprised that Kakashi was going to cook for him, but as time went on, all he could do was think about what Kakashi might be cooking for him. Smells emanated from the kitchen that were making his mouth water. His nose wasn't as keen as Kakashi's but it didn't have a hard time picking out the meat from the other smells. It smelled like beef, and the moment he smelled it, his stomach growled. Finally he couldn't take it anymore and got up to go see what Kakashi was up to.

Kakashi spied him instantly, "Obito, I told you to just sit down and wait."

"I can't! Are you ready yet!?"

"Almost, so go sit down and wait like a good chunin."

Grumbling the boy sat down again and glared at the wall. Finally the other came in with a hot skillet and set it on a hot pad he placed in the center of the table. Obito went to reach for it until his hand was slapped away by Kakashi, "I have to get us plates first, you barbarian,"

Obito thought about the new insult offered his way and decided promptly he didn't especially care at the moment. All he could do was stare at the skillet only a foot or so away from him that held his dinner of bell peppers and meat. Kakashi finally came in and the moment he handed Obito a plate the raven haired Uchiha began pulling the meat and vegetables from the searing hot skillet. He was surprised the Uchiha had spared him with about a third of it left, "Didn't anyone ever teach you basic table manners?" Kakashi said, clearly unimpressed with the way the Uchiha was shoving the food down his throat as though he were from the Akimichi clan.

Then only with the speed he'd gained from being a ninja, Kakashi took the last third of what was left on the skillet as well as the rest of the portion he'd made for _himself_ from Obito's plate, leaving them each an equal half, which Obito had already scrounged down.

"You're supposed to savor your food," Kakashi remarked as he lowered his mask and showed Obito what he meant and slowly chewed.

Obito was about to stick his tongue out at the Hatake until he realized he was looking at the other boy's face. This was the longest time on record for the other boy to reveal his face to another person. He had of course seen it before, but not long enough to study it and almost catalog it. Sometimes during training he and Rin would talk about what they thought it looked like under that mask. Rin had often speculated on some sort of scar that Kakashi might feel embarrassed about. Obito figured it was something like bucked teeth or birthmark.

But now looking at it, he wasn't sure he did understand why the other male hid his face from public. There was nothing wrong with it, not a birthmark or a scar in sight. His lips were thin normal, the frame of it was also long thin and refined. It wasn't until a few seconds later when Kakashi cleared his throat that he realized he'd been staring a bit too long. Feeling his face heat up in embarrassment he looked away.

"It's rude to stare," Kakashi stated coolly.

"Well…it's not my fault you keep it hidden all the time. Maybe if you didn't wear that stupid mask all the time people wouldn't stare when they saw it."

Kakashi was silent, and for a moment Obito wondered if he'd gone too far.

"Maybe, but I don't feel comfortable showing my face to just anyone, it's just a pet peeve, that's all, I feel naked without this mask."

Obito wasn't sure if he should feel privileged to be one of the few Kakashi showed his faced to or disturbed that Kakashi actually felt naked without his mask. Instead he chose the safe route and apologized, "Sorry."

Kakashi was a little surprised that the Uchiha had apologized, "It's fine. You're probably right." Kakashi finished his last bite and set the chopsticks down over his plate, "I suppose since you wolfed it all down, you liked it?"

"Yeah, it was great, err… thanks Bakakashi."

Kakashi nodded, "You can keep the rest of the food, and I've already put it in the fridge and thrown out all of your old food for you."

"Really?" Obito wandered into the kitchen with his plate and looked into his fridge to find it fully stocked up with food, "wow…hey where'd you get all the money to buy all that food anyway!?" Obito demanded suddenly.

Sighing the other boy set his own dishes into the sink and leaned against the counter, "I'm a jounin, remember, jounin get more money for mission because we do higher rank missions, baka."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." The other one waved it off, "Present time!" He said with such enthusiasm that might have made Gai cry in pride.

Kakashi rolled his eyes and they found themselves at the table again with their presents in hand. Kakashi beheld his, it was small, rectangular, a book maybe? Had Obito really enough foresight to actually buy him something practical? Kakashi was impressed. They looked to each other and nodded making a mutual agreement that they could open the others gifts. Kakashi pulled the almost obscenely bright orange colored book out of the wrapping paper and beheld it, "Make out Paradise? By...Jiraiya, isn't he one of the three Sannin?"

"Yeah, that's what the old codger told me anyway."

Kakashi beheld the book some more. The cover was a little weird to say the least it looked like a man was chasing a woman. He opened it up, curious and began flipping through pages. It was nothing really just a little thumb through until he landed on a page where he thought he saw a word he wasn't expecting to see and doubled back to it. Obito watched in genuine amusement as Hatake's face grew red and surprisingly Kakashi went on to read the next page, and then the next, "O-Obito? Where did you get this?!" Kakashi asked.

"I promised the old guy I bought it from I wouldn't tell."

He wasn't sure whether Kakashi was elated or disgusted. Kakashi wasn't exactly an easy to read person. And then Kakashi closed the book, "This is the best thing I've ever read in my entire life! Arigato!" He was practically bouncing off the walls in happiness that Obito had never seen before in his usually stuffy and stoic friend.

"Really, I read a couple of pages and it looked pretty boring to me."

Finally after reveling in his gift to Obito's surprise, he regained his previous composure and told Obito to open his own present. The Uchiha tore the paper apart unceremoniously and beheld the scrap book. There was silence as he began flipping through it. Kakashi waited for the boy's response. With every page, the other boy's face became harder to read. Kakashi began to feel bad, he'd never been any good at picking out presents for anyone.

"I'm sorry if you don't like it Obito, I thought, since you loved Rin so much maybe you wanted something to remember her by."

He heard sniffing come from the other side of the table and telltale signs of the other boy beginning to cry.

"No, I love it. Thanks a lot Kakashi," the other said quietly, flipping to another page. Tears were falling and the boy tried wiping them away.

Kakashi studied his friend carefully, and then the book was closed, he wiped away the last of his tears and looked up grinning like he did in the old days. Relieved Kakashi relaxed a little again, "Good, because it took me a good six hours to put it together."

The other laughed a little. With their friendship restored they sat across from each other for a long while, talking and grinning at one another almost as though nothing had happened. It was late when Kakashi got home that night and collapsed in bed with a smile. That night he slept far better than he had in all the months since Rin's death.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N:** Hello readers. Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I just had life come and slap me in the face with a whole shit load of crap, some of it good and some of it bad. My life is actually sort of normalizing itself again. Anyhow, I just wanted to apologize for taking so long to update. I hope this chapter makes up for the delay! Reviews are always welcome and thanks for taking the time to read!

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Two months went by slowly for the two ninja. For Obito it reminded him of when he was recovering from the rock fall injury. The level of boredom he was experiencing was on par. The only difference was, now he could train, be late, sleep late and help old people all to his hearts content. Only for some reason he felt as though it was just as boring as before. It was their second week into their second month of punishment. Obito was getting a little tired of the daily routine of things. He was a ninja, and ninja were often liked doing things to make their blood rush and playing Shogi with Kakashi just didn't do it for him.

He sighed staring out at the sun set on the horizon. He slumped over a little wondering what he could possibly do now. And then a man drew his attention in. This wasn't of course, just any man, this was the great Fugaku Uchiha making his way to the clan's suburb not far from where he was now. Obito smiled a little as an idea crossed his mind, it wasn't a prank or anything, just something to pass the time, something to get his good old uncle a little riled up, because nothing was better than making that old killjoy mad.

He slid soundlessly down the side of the roof until he was close enough to the ground to activate kamui and slide under the roof and hit the ground almost as soundlessly as a cat. Then proudly he began to mock his uncle, standing directly behind the man with an exaggerated scowl on his face and walking with his legs going straight up. A few in the crowd seemed to notice, looking at Obito curiously. But this little game seemed to get boring fast as well, so he went up to the next level. He crept up behind the man and began to make faces, stick his fingers over the mans head to show he was the 'devil'. People began to laugh a little almost furthering the boy to do something a little bit more drastic when someone cleared their voice behind him, "Obito, what are you doing?"

Instantly Obito stopped in his tracks and watched as Fugaku stopped in his as well. _Caught!_ He looked over to Kakashi who was clearly unimpressed by what was going on and then looked back to see Fugaku, not only with his eternal scowl but also a menacing glare. If looks could kill, Obito was quite sure his uncle would have slaughtered him.

Obito laughed nervously, "Oh…err…haha…hi uncle. Long time no see, fancy meeting you here, I was err…just going to buy a few.." he looked around for his suitable candidate for food and found it, "apples! Man I've been looking all over Konoha for these! Can't find them anywhere but here."

Fugaku wasn't buying one word of it, but of course there wasn't much he could do to his nephew. Instead he decided his best course of action would be to threaten him so that next time he didn't dare ridicule him in public. He stepped forward glaring so harshly at the boy that it almost seemed like the matching sharingan were piercing Obito's soul, "If I so much as catch you coming near me again, I will drag you to the nearest training ground and make you wish we weren't kin."

Obito scratched his head, "But I'm banned, so technically we're not kin anymore."

Feeling the rage in the atmosphere increase tenfold Kakashi decided it was finally time to step in, "I'm sorry sir if Obito has in any way offended you, I'll be happy to take him out of your sight for you."

Fugaku only huffed and turned away stomping down the rest of the street. As he vanished into the distance Obito began to laugh, "Did you see that!? He didn't know what to say…ow!" Obito rubbed his cheek which had suddenly felt hot.

"Obito, aggravating your uncle is the last thing we need to be doing right now. We're already in trouble with Minato, we're already in your uncle's bad graces, making more bad blood won't help anyone."

"It was a joke! Relax! Why are you always so serious all the time!" the raven haired boy replied.

"Because it's immature, and it's stupid, we're sixteen Obito, we have to grow up." Kakashi began walking away.

Rubbing the side of his cheek he followed the other boy, "Man, you must be really bored to be going around and being everybody's killjoy all over again."

Kakashi only shot him a glare, "It's just two months. And I am not a killjoy."

"Yes you are! You never even knew what the word fun was!"

"Because I'm a ninja, I don't need to know."

"so therefore you're a killjoy."

Grinding his teeth in irritation, Kakashi finally gave in. For a moment their was silence between them as they walked along. Obito looked as laid back as usual. Around them, the crowd hummed while going about their own business in the market, the sun had set leaving an orange and red tint on the blackening sky. Obito couldn't keep up the silence though for much longer, "Hey Kakashi, did you wanna see me or talk to me about something? Because you sort of just showed up out of the blue there."

"I'm a ninja, I'm supposed to show up out of the blue."

Obito frowned, "Yeah but why?"

"No reason, I think I just happened to come across you ther while I was getting lost on the path of life," he answered nonchalantly.

"Aw come on Kakashi, that's bullcrap!"

"Oh, but it's true."

"My ass."

The silence ensued afterwords as they continued walking. Every once in a while the Uchiha would look over to the silver haired boy and study him. He watched his friend's single eye which he'd been learning, recently could reveal quite a bit about the way he was feeling if you knew what to look for. And then Kakashi stopped in his tracks. He'd stopped moving leaving Obito to walk a few steps forward until he realized the other had stopped. He looked over his shoulder to see Kakashi with his head down towards the ground and shoulders slumped forward, an irregular and odd posture for the star ninja. Turning around he walked back to the silver haired boy, and then he couldn't take it anymore, "just spill the damn beans!" he yelled.

Kakashi wasn't surprised, Obito always yelled when he got frustrated, and somehow it was amusing and endearing to him, "Obito, what did you do when you loved Rin?"

It took the raven haired ninja a moment to fully register and process what the other had said before he could even formulate a response, "What?!"

Kakashi sighed and repeated the question.

Again, Obito's brain went through the motions, "Well, I mostly kept trying to tell her subtly but she never got the hint," for a moment the Uchiha stared off into the distance, and then regaining his previous composure he neared Hatake, "So who's your secret crush…haaa?" he teased.

Blushing behind his mask Kakashi pushed the other away, "No one, I was just curious that's all."

"Aw come on, nobody comes up with a question like that out of the blue, especially you Bakakashi! Man you're full of crappy excuses today!"

"I seem to remember that someone else is full of crappy excuses every day he's late!" Kakashi snapped back.

Obito glared back at the other and then waved, heading home for the night. In the streets of Konoha, a silver haired teen stood back and watched the Obito walk home. He watched him until he disappeared. Then he too turned home. But on the way he reflected. Over the past few weeks he'd been beginning to develop rather strange feelings towards Obito, feelings that were utterly and completely foreign to him. One morning while still in between the stage of waking up and getting up he'd imagined what it would be like if he could wake up with Obito beside him in the bed. He remembered a warm feeling spreading over his chest, a feeling that he would have best described as elation.

But that hadn't been the only odd occurrence. Make Out Paradise was also giving him strange ideas. Whenever he'd finish a chapter with especially mature scenes and lay back afterwards thinking about it, his minds never once failed to think of Obito, and not just the grinning idiot with lame excuses and a heart of gold, but also a very naked Obito. It always seemed to take him a moment to realize he was imagining his best friend naked to get him out of his daydream. It seemed that for now though his only guide as to why this was all happening was Makeout Paradise. And so he held the book very close to him at all times.


	13. Chapter 13

Together as One chapter 13

**A/N: **Hi everyone! Did you miss me? Sorry I've been gone for so long. Kind of got lost on the road of life hahaha… anyway I'm back! Anyway, tineyninja kinda was the one to remind me of the existence of this story, so I'd like to thank you for that! I hope this chapter can make up for my long disappearance and I do plan to write another chapter after this by the end of next week sometime since my physics and calc tests will be over with by then. And hopefully near the end of the school year I'll get a few more chapters up. Thank you all for waiting for me! I hope this chapter is worth it! And thank you so much for reading, and thank you for your reviews they make me really happy and motivate me a lot! So hopefully I'll not be gone so much in the future. Thanks guys!

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The period of boredom was finally over for the two ninja. And they had received their first mission from Minato in what seemed like ages. Obito strode out of home full of excitement. He practically raced straight for the hokage's office. Minato stared at him in awe for a moment, "Obito, you're not late!?"

Obito grinned, he'd even beat Kakashi, but not by much. Kakashi entered the room and his single eye widened in shock as well, "Amazing, for once you're on time. So whatever happened to being a good samaritan and helping old ladies carry their groceries home, hmm?"

"I haven't had a mission in ages! What is it sensei!? A-rank? S-rank! Please…" he danced around in excitement.

Minato wasn't sure he was up to breaking the Uchiha's hopes, but he pulled out the mission assignment sheet anyway, "D-rank, as you're punishment, remember? You two aren't quite out of the hole yet."

Obito's expression fell at once, "What?! But can't you make one exception?! Please?"

"No, I need to make sure you two understand the weight of what you've done. Understand?" Minato answered firmly.

Obito immediately grabbed Kakashi by the shoulder, "But look we're friends again sensei…"

Kakashi's body stiffened from the touch, his face growing hot and blushed beneath his mask. Minato barely caught Kakashi's change in form and noted it in the corner of his brain. Well…maybe they were getting along, and better than he would have ever expected.

"No, Obito and that's my final answer, now take it."

Obito pulled his hand away from Kakashi's shoulder, and Minato observed carefully as Kakashi's stiffened figure relaxed a little and he shakily came forward to take the file, "Yamamato Kogito is the name of our customer, he's the head of the village thirty miles west of hear called Shibetsu. He want's someone to guard his village until they catch the bandits that have been coming and stealing their crops. Apprehend them and bring them to Kogito for their punishment."

Kakashi studied the mission assignment more carefully, "Sensei, this doesn't sound like a D-rank mission. Gennin aren't supposed to be doing assignments like these from what I understand."

"It's a poor village, and I let him get away with it largely because I knew you two were on hand and could handle it with ease. It shouldn't be too much of a problem for the two of you," Minato replied.

Kakashi's suspicions weren't totally relieved as he stared at the paper wondering what more their customer would be hiding. Bu tit was clear that Minato was certain they could handle it, and Kakashi didn't doubt this either, he was an ANBU and Obito was a chunin who could probably become a jounin with ease. But Kakashi didn't like going into a mission without all the information.

Obito as predicted was actually happy about this complication, "So it's actually a C-rank mission, disguised as a D-rank mission!"

Kakashi took the opportunity to add his own remark, "A brilliant deduction Obito, whatever would we do without you?"

It earned him a glare in return. But Minato quickly ended what he saw as a possible conflict between the two, "be ready at five p.m. at the west gate."

Kakashi nodded in confirmation, "Yes sir."

They left the tower, Kakashi was still uneasy about this mission, Obito as usual was laid back about it. Finally he touched Obito's shoulder, feeling shy about his touch for some reason, "Obito, we need to be careful on this mission, we shouldn't underestimate the situation."

Obito looked over, and frowned, "It'll be a cinch Bakakashi, we've been through worse, a C-rank or whatever it is, ti sounds like nothing to me…"

"But…"

"I'm going to pack for the mission," and with that he left.

Kakashi glared, "Idiot. He's too overconfident."

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At five Kakashi was again surprised by the Uchiha's punctuality. This was really a new trait he was coming to like. Obito showed up in a new set of clothes, it didn't surprise Kakashi, his own had grown old, small and grungy in the past six months, and he'd gone to a more standard set of clothes. Obito was wearing a standard Konoha flack jacket, pants and a blue tee-shirt with his clan symbol on the side. That was interesting.

"Obito…don't you hate you're clan?"

"Hmm? Meh, yeah, they're a bunch of jerks all caught up in their clan hatred."

"So why are you wearing their symbol on your shirt."

Obito looked over to the side the clan symbol was on, "Well, I can't chose family and I hope when Itachi becomes new clan leader, he'll fix everything."

"hmm…" Kakashi sighed and moved on to the topic at hand, the sun was two hours away from sunset when the gates closed, "sensei didn't give us much travel time, come on, let's go and try to get as far as possible before sunset."

Obito nodded and they began sprinting as fast as they could through the trees toward their destination. Kakashi had packed civilian clothes that they would be able to change into while in the village so as not to be easily recognized by the thieves. It was a boring trip overall, and they traveled an hour later after the sun had set before Kakahsi proposed they stop and set up camp.

Obito drew a long yawn, and sat down on the ground. Kakashi looked down a thim with an unimpressed expression, "Obito…we need a tent."

"Five minutes."

Kakashi looked toward the sky and let out a long sigh and obliged and sat down next to his old friend. The stars made him remorseful for a moment. He remembered when they were a team of three and Rin was with them. She would often cook their meals when they ended up camping out, she was a good cook. Kakashi remembered when she would try to subtly tell him she loved him. Kakashi had at some point finally told her the truth, tha the did enjoy her company and she was a good teammate and friend and he considered her one of his closest friends, but he would never feel the same about her. At the time, Kakashi wasn't quite sure he'd ever understand what love meant, in fact he wasn't sure if he knew what it meant now. He looked at Obito, and began wondering, did he love Obito? The little orange book sure made it sound like he did, but he still wasn't sure. And knowing that Obito was another man, made him ask a few other questions…was it okay to love Obito, another man? Would society accept him for loving another man, or would they ridicule him for it? A shiver ran down his spine as he remembered what happened to his father. Kakashi was afraid to admit his love, if it was even that. And it seemed like it was harder and harder to follow the ninja rules, that forbade him from showing his emotions.

Obito noticed Kakashi was looking at him strangely, in fact it was like a look of longing, and it surprised Obito. Though for some time now, Obito had suspected Obito did have a crush on someone, he eyed the copy-ninja suspiciously, "Do you have a crush you're not telling me about Bakakashi?"

Kakashi was taken away from his thoughts by the question and for a moment was silent unsure how to answer Obito's question, "Of course not, Ninja rule number three, a ninja never shows emotion."

"Then how come you're always staring into space witht hat dreamy look in your eyes, ha?" the Uchiha teased.

Kakshi felt a little nervous, "don't be stupid. I'm just…thinking about the mission is all."

The raven haired by frowned, "My ass," earning him a glare from Hatake.

Kakashi decided he didn't want to linger on the topic and took off his pack, "Shut up and help me set up the tent."

The tent went up with ease, and chewed on bits of packaged food before going to bed. One tent was usually customary for two ninja, and Kakashi had slept in the same tent as Obito numerous times, but this time…this time seemed different. He felt himself suddenly longing for the Uchiha's touch and trying to find excuses to rub up against him in his sleep by accident per say. But the risk of his honor was holding him back. And as sleep began to fall on his eyes he felt a tinge of jealousy in his heart, why couldn't Obito feel the same way, why couldn't Obito struggle with his feelings as Kakashi was? He mentally yelled at himself that these were the kinds of feeling's that'd gotten them in this position in the first place. He closed his eyes willing sleep to come. And when sleep came, Kakashi was plagued with dreams of a certain someone. A certain someone who'd lost his honor, for saving a fellow teammate, and had been ridiculed by the village, someone by the name of Sakumo Hatake.


End file.
